St. Paul District Signs Sturgeon Island Partnership Agreement

The St. Paul Engineer District and the Prairie Island Indian Community signed a project partnership agreement February 25 for an environmental improvement project on the Mississippi River. The project is the first to be signed under the Tribal Partnership Program within the Mississippi Valley Division and only the second such project within the Corps of Engineers to move into the design and implementation phase.

Col. Karl Jansen, St. Paul District commander, and Prairie Island Indian Community Tribal Council President Shelley Buck signed the agreement to complete the Mississippi River Sturgeon Lake Island Restoration Project upstream of Red Wing, Minn.

“This is a huge accomplishment and a testament to the continued partnership with the Prairie Island Indian Community,” Kim Warshaw, St. Paul District project manager, said.

The project, planned in collaboration with the Prairie Island Indian Community, the Minnesota and Wisconsin Departments of Natural Resources and other partners would restore floodplain habitat and enhance wetland habitat on Buffalo Slough Island within Sturgeon Lake in Pool 3 of the Mississippi River. The district has been gathering public comments for nine months. The project is expected to “significantly” reduce invasive species, the district said.